Answer Changing on Objective Tests

Abstract

In an attempt to identify some of the causes of answer changing behavior, the effects of four tests and item specific variables were evaluated. Three samples of New Zealand school children of different ages were administered tests of study skills. The number of answer changes per item was compared with the position of each item in a group of items, the position of each item in the test, the discrimination index and the difficulty index of each item. It is shown that answer changes were more likely to be made on items occurring early in a group of items and toward the end of a test. There was also a tendency for difficult items and items with poor discriminations to be changed more frequently. Some implications of answer changing in the design of tests are discussed.